Australian Alston 27

[JimInOz]

Hi,
I'm located in Australia.
I have an Alston 27 windmill,with 8 feet fan on a 20 plus feet ,4 legged tower.
After years of ownership,I'm finally fixing it,ready to put it up.It will be a garden ornament,not a pumper.
As the original gears etc were quite worn,I opted to add my own gearbox...an old IH PTO attachment.
I like oddball metal art,so have added oddball stuff to this project.
I have added more bearings where I could & made everything quite heavy.
Everything is aligned to the centre of tower,including the tail.
Now,I want to make it all work.

I need to know how to regulte the fan , but know nothing about furling,fan direction,etc.
Even at ground level,this thing wants to spin quick,so I'd like to find out what I need to do to finish off this project.

I'm happy to directly email pictures,if someone would like to advise me.
First picture shows original windmill.Next 3 are the alterations.

Thanks in advance,
Jim

Windmill Laydown (11) (Small).jpg

IH Windmill Gearbox (1).JPG

Version 2 (2).JPG

Prior to raising 2023 (5).JPG

[Challenge 27]

The most common method of causing a vane-type windmill to turn out of the wind is to have the wheel shaft offset slightly to one side of the vertical center line of the windmill. For all practical purposes the mast pipe could be considered the vertical center line of the windmill. The off-center thrust of the wheel/wheel shaft would constantly be trying to turn the windmill out of the wind, or edge of the wheel to the wind. Usually the vane can keep the wheel facing into the wind, despite this thrust. But the vane is mounted on a hinge, and is held in place by a spring or a weight. In high winds, the thrust of the wheel becomes sufficient to turn the wheel out of the wind, overcoming the resistance of the spring or weight; and reducing the speed of the wheel. In a really high wind, the vane might be nearly parallel to the wheel.

But there is a slightly different way to do this, and it should work well in your case. You wrote that "everything is aligned to the centre of the tower,including the tail." In the case of the legendary wooden Eclipse, everything was aligned to the "centre" of the tower . . . but there was that secondary or side vane. It was always be producing a force to turn the wheel edge to the wind. Usually the vane can keep the wheel of the Eclipse facing into the wind, despite this thrust. But the vane was mounted on a hinge, and is held in place by the equally legendary crescent moon-shaped counterweight. Only in high winds would the side vane be able to produce enough force to start to turn the wheel out of the wind, causing the vane to become more parallel to the wind, and raising the counterweight by means of a mechanical linkage. When the wind subsided, the downward force of the weight, by means of some very unique gears, would bring the vane back to its normal position in lighter winds.

Challenge 27

[mtblah]

Thank you for the simple explanitation of the mechanical aspects of how a windmill works , and a very complicated thing , the wind .

[JimInOz]

Challenge 27,

Thanks for the prompt ,clear reply. The Eclipse side vane idea is interesting,& the wooden windmills look nice.
I think there are some Australian windmills like the Comet & R series Southern Cross that are not offset.
Finding information online has been frustrating. A lot of "windmill" searches on the internet bring up modern turbines.
I imagine there are some good old books out there .

BTW, will a wheel generally turn either clockwise or anti CW,depending on the blade positioning? And does this influence the vane spring/buffer set up?

Thanks again,
Jim

[Wayne]

You have a group of windmill people in Morawa, Western Australia, at the Morawa District Historical Society. They put out the Windmill Journal. One of the Editors is Helen Walter, email:mal50walter@wn.com.au phone 089972 2051(WA). Very nice lady. I have met her once an send her questions at times. The Windmill Journal is worth the $20 a year. Contact her she would probably be interested in your windmill.

[JimInOz]

Thanks Wayne,
Years ago I bought a heap of manuals from them. A very good Historical Society & reference for Australian history.
I'll go take a look again..

[Challenge 27]

You (JimInOz) wrote "will a wheel generally turn either clockwise or anti CW,depending on the blade positioning? And does this influence the vane spring/buffer set up?"

Yes to the first part. The blades are airfoils and their positioning on the wheel rims determines how the wind will flow around them; producing the thrust that turns the wheel.

When looking at a clockwise wheel from the front, notice that one side of each blade projects forward, and that all the blades are positioned the same.
But when looking at a counter-clockwise wheel from the front, notice that it is the opposite side of each blade that projects forward. That determines how the wind will flow around the blades, and the direction of the thrust produced by the blades.

The direction the wheel turns would not effect the vane spring/buffer set up. What would effect that is which way the hinged vane will turn. That depends on which side of the mast pipe the off-center wheel is positioned on, or on which side of the windmill a side or secondary vane is placed.

Almost invariably with a clockwise windmill, when viewed from the front, the vane will turn toward your right side when the vane is furled.
Almost invariably with a counter-clockwise windmill, when viewed from the front, the vane will turn toward your left side when the vane is furled.
But the early Aermotors (1888 to 1914, the so-called "Pumping Aermotor") blithely broke this "rule." The vane turned toward to left, when viewed from the front; but the wheel was a clockwise wheel.

Challenge 27

P.S. Completely off the subject, and belonging in another forum, the projected high today in Pleasanton, Texas is 106 degrees; with triple digit highs projected for the rest of the coming week. If this continues into September, I wonder how many people are going to attend the trade fair.

[Wayne]

I think I can handle the heat if I stand in the shade to talk. Don't ask me to do any manual labor. I need to get out of town and talk to someone other than myself for a day or two.

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Too bad we didn't live closer Wayne we could complain to each other and tell lies.

[JimInOz]

Challenge 27,

Thanks again for the detailed information. This will be very helpful as I proceed. I'm sure others are happy to read that information also.
Yesterday, I spent some time looking at some of those wonderful wooden windmills in the USA. Outstanding,Functional artworks! .
I also subscribed to the local Windmill Journal.

I'm aware of the Trade Fair .I hope the heat backs off a little,so you can attend in some level of comfort.
I used to work in an area that reached 45-48C (113 +) each day,so I get your pain...
One day I got a little dehydrated & lost my eyesight for 15 minutes.A swim in a rock pool restored my vision, & lesson learnt.

Thanks again,
Jim